Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM2 Depth5 (section)

===Part 6===

The thick clouds had cleared up.

Of course, the linear rainband wasn’t gone. Mikoto and her squadron were just that far away from land.

It was over. Somehow.

But Mikoto was exhausted and hadn’t gained much at all.

They hadn’t even managed to capture the enemy fighters that had crashed in the mountains or dam. And while the YF-23 and F-35Bs’ personalities left a lot to be desired, not gaining those high performance stealth fighters was a major disappointment.

The Imperial industrial city of Dorgionix would probably continue to produce Girlish Weapons like that, which would then pursue Mikoto and the rest.

(But we did a good thing.)

“…”

Mikoto sighed softly while gripping the control column.

Izanami and Izanagi were waiting in place for them. Their aircraft had barely enough fuel for a round trip, so the ship couldn’t carelessly move and put more distance between them and the continent.

Shokuhou had been right.

The situation was only getting worse. If they hadn’t bothered with Dorgionix, they could have moved the ships further out to sea and perhaps reduced the risk of attack.

“Teleport 02. You don’t have to worry about that, Onee-sama.”

“But I was being selfish.”

“While I am worn out, this is the pleasant kind of worn out, so I don’t mind.”

“Rampage 03. Same here. I would feel much worse if we had let the dam break. You did the right thing, Misaka-sama.”

Mikoto smiled a little.

It was important for one’s sense of purpose to be something unseen. If she followed strict morals of her own will, it could help prevent unnecessary trouble aboard the ships.

She hadn’t been wrong after all.

She was finally confident of that.

“Onee-sama, you land first. You used up the most fuel in that intense dogfight, didn’t you? So hurry.”

If they kept insisting the other go first, they really would run out of fuel.

Mikoto had no choice but to go in and land.

The runway was only 300m long. She was rapidly decelerated by catching a hook on a taut wire.

Wannai hooked the Shinshin up to the tractor and towed it over to the large elevator.

With that, her flight was complete.

It looked like Shirai’s F-2A was coming down next.

“Teleport 02 to Izanami. I am beginning my landing. Phew, get the wire ready.”



She crashed.

Shirai’s F-2A veered just a bit off the runway and slammed into the cruise ship’s mall.



“Eh?”

It happened so fast.

Mikoto had seen it happen, but she still couldn’t believe it.

The fighter exploded a moment later.

Orange flames and a shockwave swelled out.

Mikoto was helpless.

“Kurokooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!”

Fatigue was a serious issue.

Her underclassman had already reached her limit. This was the result of Mikoto getting her involved. It had happened because Shirai had been forced onto this extra mission.

(It’s my fault.)

They hadn’t put together a dedicated firefighting team. They didn’t have the personnel to spare, so whatever girls were free grabbed fire extinguishers and hoses and ran over. The missiles and ammunition must have ignited along with the fuel because a few even bigger explosions followed. They couldn’t get close with that going on. Even though the pilot was still inside all that fire and steel.

(It’s my fault!!)

Mikoto was watching in a daze when someone appeared right next to her.

A twintails girl was sitting on the Shinshin’s main wing.

“Kuro…ko?”

“Yeah. I would have died in that fire if I couldn’t teleport.”

A whistle shrieked loud. That was Kongou Mitsuko. Hokaze’s F-2A and Girlish Weapon YF-22A were still in the air. They had to get the runway cleared and ready for a landing before those two ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean.